Cadillac ATS General Discussion Forum Discussion, Why I traded in my ATS - an open letter to Cadillac in Cadillac ATS Discussion Forums; I want to preface this by saying that this is my opinion.
Why I bought an ATS
I came from ...

Why I traded in my ATS - an open letter to Cadillac

I want to preface this by saying that this is my opinion.

Why I bought an ATS
I came from a 2003 Saab 9-3. Leaving the Army at 26, I entered a high paying cyber security job. With military education benefits and relatively low debt, I decided to buy a new car. I researched for a couple of months, reading about BMWs, Audis, Volvos, and Mercedes. I leaned towards an A4, but honestly, if Saab had still been in business, I probably would have gotten another one.

Anyway, I then found out about the ATS. It came down to a 328xi or an ATS AWD. I felt compelled to buy an American car, helping support the economy and such. Secondarily, I felt like the BMW sales rep talked for way too long, whereas the Cadillac sales rep got me into a car right away.

First impressions
This car is awesome! It handles great! It's fast! It looks cool! The HUD rocks. Sure, CUE is slow, but I see potential. It is, after all, software, and software can be updated. In fact, we'll get updates all the time so CUE is never outdated!

And I was right. A few months after getting the car, we got the February/March update, and things sped up a good bit. There were still some problems, sure, but another update will fix those.

Things go south
Here's where people will probably think I'm crazy, but a bunch of little things added up.
I was disappointed with gas mileage. I thought an ATS 2.0T would get closer to 30 mpg, but got about 22. This can probably be attributed to my lack of knowledge in AWD systems. I don't drive crazy (that often) and have a mostly highway commute.
I'm told it sounds like a wind tunnel when using the car's speakers and microphone.
The heated seat doesn't remember when it was on after a restart.

But mainly, it was CUE. Over a year with no update. It's still slow. It resets to long voice prompts. I can't get it to do voice recognition to save my life. And, very frustratingly, you can't type an address while moving. I recently had the need to change destinations, and didn't have the opportunity to pull over and re-enter and address, so I had to rely on Siri to get me where I needed to go. This would have been fine if CUE could recognize an address, but...

I also had A/C fail, which was a bit annoying.

On to the next one
So anyway, all of those things conspired to make me trade in my car. I got a 2012 Volvo C70. It's not as fast, and not as flashy. But I can change addresses while driving. The seat heats stay on. Voice calls sound fine (and with the top down, I'd at least have a good reason for it to sound windy).

I'm hoping an aftermarket solution will bring Carplay to C70 this fall, but if not, at least I don't have the expectation of a higher quality system.

Could Cadillac have kept me? Would I buy another?
They definitely could have kept me. More frequent software updates to fix systemic problems, acknowledgement of those problems, and easier delivery mechanism of updates would have kept me. I realize I'm probably in the minority in caring more about CUE than the car itself, but I'm a young technology professional, and value that significantly. Cadillac over promised and under delivered.

I might come back, but if feel pretty soured. The C70 suits how I drive just fine, and Carplay is likely to impress me much more than CUE did, so I'm probably more likely to get a car that supports it. Car makers should focus on the mechanical part and create a system open to actual developers. But, I won't rule out the possibility. Maybe Cadillac will turn it all around and hire a fantastic development team, provide more timely updates, and make a truly awesome system. So we'll see.

Re: Why I traded in my ATS - an open letter to Cadillac

I know it won't matter now, but there is a fix for the voice prompts resetting to "long." I drilled my dealership until I annoyed them enough they found a fix for the issue. I haven't had much luck with voice recognition either when it comes to addresses, and while not the cheap option, I just press the OnStar button and tell them what business or location I need to get to and then it downloads.
Ultimately though if there are enough little annoyances it ruins the enjoyment of the car. Even if the things are relatively insignificant. I'm kind of a perfectionist so when I'm in a car I want it perfect even when it's a feature I rarely use or the smallest rattle or squeak. I just want to know my car works as intended. When it doesn't, it can be frustrating.

I want to preface this by saying that this is my opinion. Why I bought an ATS I came from a 2003 Saab 9-3. Leaving the Army at 26, I entered a high paying cyber security job. With military education benefits and relatively low debt, I decided to buy a new car. I researched for a couple of months, reading about BMWs, Audis, Volvos, and Mercedes. I leaned towards an A4, but honestly, if Saab had still been in business, I probably would have gotten another one. Anyway, I then found out about the ATS. It came down to a 328xi or an ATS AWD. I felt compelled to buy an American car, helping support the economy and such. Secondarily, I felt like the BMW sales rep talked for way too long, whereas the Cadillac sales rep got me into a car right away. First impressions This car is awesome! It handles great! It's fast! It looks cool! The HUD rocks. Sure, CUE is slow, but I see potential. It is, after all, software, and software can be updated. In fact, we'll get updates all the time so CUE is never outdated! And I was right. A few months after getting the car, we got the February/March update, and things sped up a good bit. There were still some problems, sure, but another update will fix those. Things go south Here's where people will probably think I'm crazy, but a bunch of little things added up. I was disappointed with gas mileage. I thought an ATS 2.0T would get closer to 30 mpg, but got about 22. This can probably be attributed to my lack of knowledge in AWD systems. I don't drive crazy (that often) and have a mostly highway commute. I'm told it sounds like a wind tunnel when using the car's speakers and microphone. The heated seat doesn't remember when it was on after a restart. But mainly, it was CUE. Over a year with no update. It's still slow. It resets to long voice prompts. I can't get it to do voice recognition to save my life. And, very frustratingly, you can't type an address while moving. I recently had the need to change destinations, and didn't have the opportunity to pull over and re-enter and address, so I had to rely on Siri to get me where I needed to go. This would have been fine if CUE could recognize an address, but... I also had A/C fail, which was a bit annoying. On to the next one So anyway, all of those things conspired to make me trade in my car. I got a 2012 Volvo C70. It's not as fast, and not as flashy. But I can change addresses while driving. The seat heats stay on. Voice calls sound fine (and with the top down, I'd at least have a good reason for it to sound windy). I'm hoping an aftermarket solution will bring Carplay to C70 this fall, but if not, at least I don't have the expectation of a higher quality system. Could Cadillac have kept me? Would I buy another? They definitely could have kept me. More frequent software updates to fix systemic problems, acknowledgement of those problems, and easier delivery mechanism of updates would have kept me. I realize I'm probably in the minority in caring more about CUE than the car itself, but I'm a young technology professional, and value that significantly. Cadillac over promised and under delivered. I might come back, but if feel pretty soured. The C70 suits how I drive just fine, and Carplay is likely to impress me much more than CUE did, so I'm probably more likely to get a car that supports it. Car makers should focus on the mechanical part and create a system open to actual developers. But, I won't rule out the possibility. Maybe Cadillac will turn it all around and hire a fantastic development team, provide more timely updates, and make a truly awesome system. So we'll see. Thanks for reading, and here's to hoping these issues get addressed. TL;DR: Internet nobody dislikes CUE

Re: Why I traded in my ATS - an open letter to Cadillac

Sorry for your problems, but:

1. Low MPG is no secret for the 2.0T. Consumer Reports shows exactly the MPG you got.
2. A lot of nav systems lock out address entry while driving. My 07 Lexus has this; this is not a Caddy issue--it's a safety/legal liability concern.

Re: Why I traded in my ATS - an open letter to Cadillac

I had the "wind tunnel" issue and people got nasty if I answered while at highway speed because it was so nasty for them to have to listen. At the same time, I could try to use CUE voice recognition for navigation and the response would be "no speech detected" unless I looked to the heavens and yelled at the microphone.

Then a couple weeks back my dealer dropped the headliner and put in the foam per the GM fix and now people say it is normal voice quality and CUE is responsive to navigation commands.

How in the heck did Cadillac release this car though with that problem?

Oh well. That does sound like it would have solved, or eased, a couple of the problems of the OP.

Re: Why I traded in my ATS - an open letter to Cadillac

Good luck with your Volvo OP. I tested the S60 R-Design last year and it was a great car. In the end it is your money and you drive the car day in and day out, so might as well drive what makes you happy. I personally have dumped a car prematurely for reasons that would seem overly picky to some, but made me want to drive off a cliff.

Re: Why I traded in my ATS - an open letter to Cadillac

Originally Posted by jhatfie

Good luck with your Volvo OP. I tested the S60 R-Design last year and it was a great car. In the end it is your money and you drive the car day in and day out, so might as well drive what makes you happy. I personally have dumped a car prematurely for reasons that would seem overly picky to some, but made me want to drive off a cliff.

Wondering how the OP's cell calls are going to sound from a C70 convertible?

Re: Why I traded in my ATS - an open letter to Cadillac

Seems like some overly picky reasons to trade in an awesome car, but to each their own! Most GPS units I have used do not allow typing while driving. I still love mine despite small quirks like CUE. For the most part, I barely touch it, I just Spotify it via bluetooth on my iPhone on the steering wheel.